


Wake Me Up When I Can Finally Stand Again

by Apologetic_Pear



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Road Trip, Attempt at Humor, Character Development, Character Study, F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Road Trips, because I don't live in japan, how can i write a road trip trip in a place i've never tripped, if you laugh at any jokes i will give you a gold star because they are not very funny, not in Japan, very, wow actually kinda, yeah road trip au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-26
Updated: 2018-04-28
Packaged: 2019-04-28 01:27:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14438541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apologetic_Pear/pseuds/Apologetic_Pear
Summary: In which Ouma decides to tail Saihara's group road trip with his own group road trip.





	1. COWfe Street

**Author's Note:**

> some notes before reading:  
> \- I call some characters by their last name and some by their first name. Sorry.  
> \- no beta we die like men  
> \- I'll cross my fingers and hope I get the characterization right.  
> \- I did not plan anything this was literally written within the span of a couple hours and a thirst for a road trip AU
> 
> Q: How long will this fic be ??  
> A: ???????
> 
> apologies. Enjoy.

On a hot summer day, Kiyo watched a purple gremlin pile junk into his cousin’s SUV on their driveway.

“For the last time, we can’t fit all of your… toys in the back seat of this car. Our bags already take up most of the space.”

Ouma stick his tongue out at a very tired looking Kiyo as he tried to squish in a cat keyboard and more bottles of that artificial looking grape soda. “I’m going to be bored in the car, duh! I need entertainment.”

“You’re the one who forced us to go along with this whole thing.”

“I did it all for you guys you know? I thought that because everyone is always soooo stressed out you all needed some time to relax!”

Kiyo squished the bridge of his nose, “No, you just wanted to tail Saihara’s car and ruin their trip for your own personal joy.”

“Oopsie! Did I get caught lying again?”

Kiyo decided to just leave it at that as he took out a plastic bag to put away all the strange play things that Ouma had decided to pack in the truck. After doing so, he tied the ends and threw it into the garage.

Before all this, Kiyo hadn’t really planned to do much during summer vacation. College was going ok, nothing too bad, and he just wanted a break from schoolwork. Spending the summer with his “friends” wasn’t really something he even thought of doing.

But then, for better or for worse, Ouma dragged him along to this road trip that he had planned. Well he didn’t really plan it, it was Kaede and Saihara who planned the trip and Ouma had simply overheard the conversation and thought that it would be fun to follow them and try to ruin their vacation.

He had grabbed Amami, Miu, and Tsumugi to come along with, but since they needed a car, he had called in Kiyo as well since his cousin lived near their campus and had a working car. Also because Kiyo was the only one out of the four who had a license.

Just as Kiyo had finished cleaning out the truck from all the junk that Ouma shoved in, Amami, Tsumugi and Miu arrived in a taxi. Ouma perked up and completely forgot about the whole toy thing as he waved them over.

“It’s so early!” Miu complained. Kiyo gave her a strange look.

“It’s 10:34 in the morning.”

“That’s too early!!” Miu cried. Her eyes seemed barely open and her hair was still disheveled and done in a messy ponytail.

Amami walked over to the SUV. “Is this the car?”

“Remind us again why we also needed to come with you on this field trip again?” Tsumugi asked as she glanced over at Ouma.

Ouma faked a hurt expression, “But! I can’t go on a road trip by myself can I?? Where’s the fun in that?”

“Then go with Kiyo.”

“It’s too awkward with just two people!”

Reluctantly, Kiyo had to agree.

Ouma continued, “Besides, isn’t it more fun when there’s more people involved?”

“Well it definitely raises the risk of disaster” Amami pipes in.

“Exactly!” Ouma exclaimed, “Even Amami is here, our navigator!”

“Hey, just because I went abroad once and got lost-”

Miu groaned, “Hey as much as I like talking, can we get going already? I need some more nap time and the car ride is perfect for that.”

Tsumugi nodded in agreement.

Kiyo sighed, “Look. The SUV can fit a total of seven people, two in the front-- including the driver-- two in the middle with a space in the center, and three in the back. But the back seats are a tad cramped because of the luggage we have.”

Everyone took a deep breath as Kiyo continued.

“There has to be one victim that sits in the back.”

Before Kiyo could finish his sentence, Tsumugi and Miu ran as fast as they could to the passengers seat. Tsumugi barely beat Miu as she nearly slammed the car door on Miu’s fingers. Miu screeched and Tsumugi stuck her tongue out at her. Whimpering, Miu trudged back to the rest of the group, defeated.

Kiyo decided not to delve further into that ordeal and ignored them. “So does anyone want to volunteer to sit in the tighter space?”

“Ha. Tighter. Get it?”

Amami covered Miu’s mouth. “I think that Ouma should sit in the very back. He is the shortest out of all of us.”

“What?!”

Kiyo nodded in agreement. “That is a logical argument.”

“Woah woah! I have an objection!!”

“Ok, so the shota’s in the back then!” Miu exclaims as she and Rantaro head into the car and take one of the middle seats.

“Wait, shouldn’t we have a fair draw or something? Like pulling straws?” Ouma rambled, but eventually he took a seat in the back. 

There were bags piled up around him and not enough room to stretch out his legs. He shouted as Kiyo started driving. “This is discrimination against the short!!” 

-

Only a couple minutes after Kiyo began driving, Miu had already fallen asleep in her chair. Tsumugi was watching some cartoon on an iPad she brought with her and Ouma had already eaten two bags of chips and downed half a bottle of grape soda.

Amami didn’t really enjoy cars very much, there was no real reason or trauma behind it, simply because they were too cramped and the bumps were uncomfortable. But for this trip, he’ll manage.

He watched Ouma spell out the directions to Kiyo so that he can type it into his GPS. Apparently their first stop was a rest stop along the way that was built from a farm. They were supposed to be able to meet Saihara there around noon. Ouma had said that Saihara’s group was to start driving a little later than them, since Maki was not an early riser.

“Keep in mind that we’re following them and not going along with them.” Ouma said. “They can’t know we’re there. Kaito and Maki would actually murder my ass if they found out.”

After the GPS was filled out with the correct information, the navigator voice filled the SUV.

“Turn right in 3.2 miles.”

Ouma’s eyes widened as he heard the voice. “Susan!” He cried. Amami gave him a confused look.

“Is that the name of the GPS?” Amami asked him.

Ouma nodded.

Kiyo made a face. “It’s not. It’s just a GPS. It has no name.”

Amami smiled as Ouma made a loud dramatic gasp. “How could you! Defile! Susan! Like! This! I can’t believe you can even call yourself a father!!”

“What on earth?”

“Never speak about Susan like that ever again!” Kiyo’s eyes in the rearview mirror scrunched in confusion. Amami whispered some quick apologies for Ouma’s typical strange behavior.

Now that Kiyo was focused on driving, Amami noticed the quietness that the car fell into.

Miu and Tsumugi had headphones in, blocking out the silence.

Amami was about to doze off when he heard some crinkling noises from the back. He glanced over at Ouma, who was reading a book while opening some more snacks. Smiling he decided to sleep later when they arrived at a hotel. He faced forward and turned towards Kiyo.

“Hey, Kiyo. Does this car have an aux cord?”

“It does. Why do you ask…?”

“Ah well. How about playing some music? Just to break the silence.”

Seeing that Tsumugi and Miu had headphones in, Kiyo asked. “Does Ouma mind? He seems to be strangely quiet.”

“Oh, he’s reading a book.” Amami turned to Ouma. “Hey, is it ok if we play some music?”

Ouma blinked twice before smiling. “Of course. As long as I get to choose!”

“He says it’s fine. Hand me the aux cord.”

Ouma nearly jumps out of his seat. “NO Kiyo don’t give it to him! You might not believe this but Amami has a really shit taste in music.”

“It’s true. I really do.”

Kiyo eyes him in the rearview mirror. “I’m surprised that you admitted it yourself.”

“Well when you have twelve younger sisters, they tend to like those catchy pop songs stations play on the radio. So I get hooked into it as well.” Amami laughs. 

Ouma gasps. “Hear that Kiyo? Amami is a normie white girl, you better hand that cord to me.”

Amami eyes Ouma. “Knowing you, you would play All Star on repeat until we get to the first rest stop.”

“Hey, it’s a good song. Meme or not.”

Kiyo speaks up. “You know, isn’t it typically the driver who gets to choose what song plays? Therefore since I’m the driver-”

“No way!” Ouma cries, “We’re not listening to that emo stuff!”

“I’m not emo.”

“I bet you were once upon a time.” Ouma bluntly claims, Kiyo couldn’t reply. Amami almost felt a little bad for him, everyone has phases they wished they could forget. 

“Besides,” Ouma continues, “Shouldn’t Kiyo be paying attention to the road? We can’t have him screaming Bring Me to Life as we get into a car accident.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Kiyo replies, as composed as ever. “Personally, I think I’m a great driver. And songs are meant to be listened too, screaming the lyrics would simple ruin the listening part of the song.”

“But where’s the fun in that?” Ouma says. “Singing along is part of the experience!”

“I have to agree with Ouma on this one.” Amami joins in. “Listening to music is fun by yourself, but when your at a party with friends it’s more enjoyable to sing along.”

Kiyo didn’t reply. Instead his eyes became more focused on the road ahead as they sped up onto the highway.

Amami was tempted to look out the window, but decided against it. Ouma noticed Kiyo’s change in behavior and shrugged as he went back to reading his book.

-

Tsumugi was on her fifth episode of Danganronpa when her passenger seat door opened and Amami told her that they made it to the rest stop.

Nodding, Tsumugi put away her iPad, making sure to tuck it away underneath the seat in case any robbers tried to get into the car and steal it. She rolled up her headphones, placing them in her purse and tossing it over her shoulder.

The rest stop wasn’t anything too special. There was a gas station and a convenience store near the parking lot they stopped in. 

There were quite a few number of people, maybe six or seven more cars besides theirs, who were also spectating the farm. But the scene was very quiet.

But what was really eye catching was the giant plastic cow statue that advertised the nearby open farm.

“Does that really say… ‘Welcome to the COWfe?’” Tsumugi asked. Amami laughed.

Kiyo made a noise. “I think I’m going to vomit.”

Miu was barely awake, she staggered out of the car as Ouma pulled her by the arm. Being only five foot one, Tsumugi saw this accomplishment as an incredible feat.

As Ouma reached the rest of the group, he too noticed the giant cow. He pushed Miu onto Kiyo and grabbed Amami by the arm as he ran towards it.

Tsumugi wondered what Ouma could be up to until she saw Amami nod and pull out his phone.

Oh. Pictures. Of course. They were on vacation.

Well, kinda.

Tsumugi was still puzzled as to why Miu, Kiyo and Amami agreed to join Ouma in this mess. They were barely prepared, no one said anything about finances and hotel money, all they had was Kiyo’s van and all the junk stored in the back.

Yet even with knowing how the initial excitement will crash and burn by the moment the sun goes down and realization sets in, Tsumugi still came along.

It was strange, almost as if the entire idea seemed fun. She shook her head as she looked back at Kiyo who was still trying to wake Miu up, and then at Ouma and Amami who were trying to get Ouma to sit on top of the cow. She decided that maybe it’ll be better for those issues to be worried about later.

She helped Kiyo get Miu to walk on her own as they made their way over to where Ouma and Amami were.

The cow was certainly large, it was taller than everyone in the group and Ouma had to stand on top of Amami in order to even reach the top.

Tsumugi sighed. “Is it really necessary to climb to the top? Look there’s even a sign that says no climbing.” She points towards to piece of loose leaf taped to the cow’s right leg.

Ouma nearly bursts into tears, “Of course it’s necessary! It’s been my lifelong dream ever since I was a child, I wanted to climb on top of a cheap plastic cow that advertised bad puns and milkshakes-”

Tsumugi ignores the rest of Ouma’s ramblings. She was just about to walk off to the cafe when Amami pats her on the shoulder.

“Hey, sorry about Ouma being so noisy. Come take a photo with us? It’ll be in memory of the beginning of this trip.”

Tsumugi nodded and went over to help Amami get Ouma onto the cow’s backside. After doing so, she helped Kiyo wake Miu up so that she could correctly function by herself. Tsumugi then called over some nearby visitors to ask them to take their photo and as she stood in front of the dumb looking cow, Tsumugi couldn’t help but start to feel excited about the rest of the trip.

After the photo was done, the four standing on the ground agreed to head to the cafe nearby and wait for Saihara’s group to show up.

As they walked away, they could hear Ouma’s cries for help but paid no attention to it.

Tsumugi thought of it as a little justice for all the pranks he pulls during class and on campus.

They walked into the cafe and immediately Tsumugi wished to leave.

There was a putrid smell of burning cheese, a combination of machinery and dairy that filled the cafe. Part of the cafe was made into a small gift shop, selling various goods from magnets to stuffed animals. Next to the gift shop they sold coffee, sandwiches, and other easy meals that you would find in any simple coffee store.

There weren’t many people in the cafe. Just the workers and one tired guy drinking a cup of coffee.

Tsumugi turned to the rest of the group. “Do you smell that?”

Kiyo nodded, looking sick. Amami smiled apologetically. “Yeah. It’s really bad. Let’s not stay here for too long.”

They walked around the gift shop, Amami and Kiyo going off in separate directions and Miu stuck beside Tsumugi.

Tsumugi decided to look at the pieces of silverware when her eyes landed on a polished board of rock. She recognized it as a cheese displaying plate, most rich business guys in the shows she watched had one laying around near a book shelf and some red wine.

She took a look at the price tag and almost cried. Tsumugi turned to Miu and pointed at the cheese plate. “It’s 130 dollars.”

Miu cringed. “Damn. That better be made out of some golden ore.”

They continued touring the shop until the front doors opened.

-

Miu was so tired. She was sooo tired.

Last night before this whole trip, she stayed up until four in the morning to finish a robot creation she had started in the afternoon that day. She was “in the zone”, as they say, and couldn’t stop working until she finished.

After the robot was done, Miu looked up and paled at the sight of the rising sun.

She had collapsed then and was awoken again when her phone rang and Tsumugi yelled at her for being late.

Now she was here. In the middle of nowhere on a strange trip that she agreed to last minute looking at the several different cow magnets and wondering why her life had led her up to this point.

When the doors opened and Ouma was thrown in, she knew that this was going to be a very long day.

Behind Ouma were a couple of familiar faces, Angie, Tenko, Himiko, and Kirumi stood at the door.

Ouma groaned as he sat up on the ground. He glared at Tsumugi before shouting. “You betrayed me!”

Miu swore she heard Amami mutter “Top Ten Anime Betrayals” under his breath before Ouma began again.

“You left me to fend for myself on top of poor Sally, and now look what happened!! I was caught by the other team!”

“Sally?” Miu asked.

“Probably the cow’s new name.” Kiyo grumbled.

Before Tsumugi could answer back, Tenko piped up. “May I ask why this unruly bunch of classmates are doing out here during our summer road trip? We found this familiar degenerate riding a plastic cow outside this cafe door.”

“Yeah, I thought that this trip was only our group and Saihara’s, why are all of you here as well?” Himiko asked. 

Amami looked at Kirumi, “Is Saihara’s group here yet?”

She paused for a moment before replying. “No they aren’t. They said that they will be here in around 20 minutes.”

“Well it’s certainly a surprise to see you all here, I thought it was only Saihara’s group going on this trip. Or at least, that’s what I was told.” Kiyo glares at Ouma.

“Whoops? Maybe I left out a little bit of the unimportant details!” Ouma exclaims. “On purpose.”

Kiyo grumbles again as he heads over to grab a coffee. Miu hums in agreement and follows him there.

Kiyo orders a black coffee. Miu gets an iced mocha. They sit down and wait.

Miu glances at the front door, Tsumugi and Ouma were still arguing about something while Amami was busy apologizing to Tenko and Himiko and conversing about why they had also come here. Angie and Kirumi had wandered off to look at other things in the store.

Miu looks at Kiyo who was still upset about the whole “Tenko’s-group-is-also-here” thing.

“You alright?” Miu asked him. Kiyo looks confusingly at Miu before taking a deep breath.

“I’m fine.”

“Do you not like Tenko and Angie or something?” Miu asked. She remembered that Kiyo was always annoyed at Angie’s group of friends, she never really knew why.

“You could say that.”

“Is she like, your ex or something-”

Kiyo sighed. “No. It’s nothing like that.” 

The coffee shop worker called them over to pick up their coffee. Kiyo stood up and walked over. Miu followed with. 

They headed back to the chairs after picking up their coffee and Kiyo turned to Miu. “It’s not really something I can explain. There’s no real reason behind it.”

Miu nods. “Yeah man, I get you. We all meet those kind of people sometimes.”

Kiyo nods. Then he looks questionably at Miu. “Are you sure you’re alright? You haven’t made a dirty joke or cussed in a very long time.” 

Ah shoot. Miu just realized that she had been kind of passive lately. Well she is tired. Maybe the coffee will help wake her up.

“I’m fine goo-jeez, I’ll be back to my stunning self after a cup of coffee and some more day rest.”

“Ah. That was a rather strange nickname.”

The two decided to head back towards the others. Miu had finished her mocha. Kiyo decided that he would save some of his coffee to drink later.

As Ouma and Tsumugi started to pick on each other less and turned to pick on Himiko and Tenko, Kiyo walked over to Tsumugi and quietly said something to her. She nodded and they proceeded to drag Ouma away from Angie’s group. Amami and Miu followed with.

They sat Ouma down in a chair, Miu recognized the set up. It was interrogation time.

Tsumugi looked Ouma straight in the eye. “Alright. Now you’re going to have to tell us the truth, the whole truth, about what you planned on doing and what’s going to happen next.”

Kiyo nodded. “Also, I understand why you wouldn’t mention Angie’s group coming along as well. So there’s no need to go into that. But I do want to understand what we are to do now.”

Ouma sighed and pouted. “Well the plan was to sneak behind Saihara’s group and follow them the entire time. You see, he was planning to visit his uncle or something and then Kaede thought that it was be a good idea to come along with and bring Kaito and Maki too. Then she told Tenko about it who in turn also brought Himiko, Angie and Kirumi with them so they’re here too.”

Amami spoke up. “Well now what? Angie’s group found us, so they already know that we’re here. And the moment Saihara’s group comes over they’ll tell him and his group too. And then Maki will come hunt you down.”

Ouma winces. “Yeah. We just need Angie’s group to keep quiet about our existence.”

Miu was confused by the whole exchange, she was asleep for the entire car trip so far, had she missed this much? She shook her head.

Tsumugi pondered. “How would we get them to keep quiet?”

“Easy!” Miu knew this one. “Blackmail and/or Service.”

“Huh?”

“You can seduce a man to do anything you know? It’s a part of a woman’s charms.”

Amami stares at her for a while before speaking again. “Miu, they’re all girls.”

“Ok well, I’m very sure that at least Tenko is a lesbian-”

Ouma perked up at that comment. “Of course!”

Amami cocked his head. “She’s a lesbian?”

“No no, not that. That was already pretty obvious. We need either Tsumugi or Miu to go over and convince them for us. They wouldn’t listen to us ‘degenerate’ males, so it’s gotta be a female.”

Tsumugi nodded. “Ok, but how would we do that?”

“Easy, what I said before. Blackmail or-” Miu was cut off before she could finish.

“No. We just need some persuasive bargain.” Tsumugi stated. “We should offer up something.”

“We literally have nothing of any value.” Kiyo says.

Miu butts in, “Hey, I’m here!”

“Exactly.”

After some more debate, Tsumugi tells the group that she has a coupon for a magic show later at the end of summer and that she’ll use that to convince them.

Miu said she wanted to come with, but Tsumugi strictly declined.

After a couple minutes of negotiation, a treaty was signed and a couple’s date was arranged.

-

The truth was, Ouma wanted to go with Saihara somewhere. But he knew that the possibility of that happening was very slim. Especially with Kaito and Maki surrounding him.

So, when Ouma overheard Saihara and Kaede’s conversation he copied their plans word for word onto his notebook.

Then he gathered a group of people he considered to be a little more than the average acquaintance and headed out.

He was found by Angie’s group and then he got into an argument with Tsumugi. She had told him that he was not prepared enough for this trip. Sure he didn’t really have the finances covered for hotels and such, but Ouma knew people.

Ouma knew lots of people all around the country. People he’s met online, people that have moved away, people that he had moved away from.

He stays in contact with all of them. Just in case he needs a hand.

Ouma wasn’t worried about the safety of the trip. He was here to have fun.

And sometimes fun included being completely unprepared.

The group headed back to the car and waited for Saihara’s group to show up. It didn’t take long for the familiar faces to arrive. Ouma watched Kaede grin and hold Saihara’s hand as she led him into the cafe.

He tried not to pay too much attention.

As Ouma watched them walk into the cafe, he turned to his group. “Alright guys. Here’s the plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Extra Ramblings:
> 
> \- I have a shit taste in music as well  
> \- the COWfe exists, and so does this rest stop  
> \- that cheese plater was actually 150 USD


	2. Tired Street

Saihara came back to his car, only to see that it had been wrapped around continuously in toilet paper.

On the side of his car, a cutie mark was painted on top of his gas tank lid.

He sighed, and ripped off some of the toilet paper to look inside. Yes, nothing was stole or broken-- he did lock his car.

Thank god.

As Saihara continued to tear off the toilet paper, Kaede had also exited the COWfe and started heading towards Saihara.

She broke into a ran as soon as she saw an unfamiliar white cloud instead.

“Saihara! What happened?”

Saihara shrugged. “I don’t know. Some kids probably thought it would be fun to pick on a Toyota.”

Kaede frowned. “Geez. When will children learn to mature a little.” She walked over to Saihara and started helping him clean up the toilet paper mess. He smiled back and thanked her.

By the time they were about finished, Kaito and Maki had walked out of the COWfe to join them.

Kaito waved them over, but was then alarmed by the mass amounts of toilet paper in their arms. “What the heck? What are you guys doing with that?”

“Someone TP’d our car for whatever reason.” Kaede explained. “We don’t know who, probably some rowdy kids. It’s no big deal.”

Maki looked at her with confusion. “TP? Don’t you usually do that to houses?”

“I guess it’s cars now too.” Saihara shrugged. “What took you guys so long?”

Kaito took a deep breath. “Well we got into a small argument about belly buttons? Like how some people have outie belly buttons and some people have innie belly buttons.”

“And this took so long… why?” Kaede piped up.

“Well I wanted to know whether or not outie belly buttons go away after a while, since I’ve only seen outies on little kids and stuffed bears.” Kaito said. “I’ve never seen anyone older than a teenager have an outie. But when I looked it up online, it said that outies can only be removed through cosmetic surgery!!”

Saihara sighed. “Isn’t the innie belly button considered more conventionally beautiful? People with outie belly buttons would hide it then.”

“Did you guys talk about this the entire time?” Kaede asked in disbelief.

Maki shook her head. “Somehow the discussion led to whether or not dogs and other mammals have belly buttons- you know since they don’t have scissors to cut the umbilical cord with.”

“Right.”

“We looked it up online, and it said that since they don’t have scissors, they just chew it off. Which is why there’s no obvious button on their stomach.”

Kaede nodded, looking a tad confused as to why this idea even occured in the first place. “Anyway, me and Saihara are going to get rid of all this garbage.”

“Gotcha.”

Saihara and Kaede started walking to the gas station to throw the paper away when Kaito’s booming voice yelled across the parking lot.

“WHY IS THERE A CUTIE MARK ON THE SIDE OF OUR CAR???”

Saihara winced at the loud sound, and Kaede couldn’t help but giggle.

As he watched her smile, Saihara felt himself smile too.

Maybe the rainbows and hearts on his old Toyota were a nice touch.

-

Amami watched Saihara’s group clean up the toilet paper mess they had created from the inside of Kiyo’s car. The group had decided to sit and wait in the car instead of standing outside to avoid getting caught by Saihara’s group. He smiled seeing how they weren’t too angry about the “prank” that they pulled.

It wasn’t even that good of a prank. Amami thinks that Ouma was a little low on the creative side this time.

Other than the critique, Amami still admired the fact the Ouma’s pranks were never too harmful. Something like breaking a car’s window was out of the question.

Sure, sometimes the things he pulls are pretty embarrassing, but he knows when to turn it down or when to speak up to get everyone out of trouble.

That’s probably why Amami has continued to stay friends with him for so long. He admired the strange sort of “chivalry” that Ouma had.

“Chivalry”, for lack of a better word.

As Amami turned back away from their car window, he watched Ouma and Miu talk about the cutie mark that they had drawn on Saihara’s car.

It was all fun and games until Tsumugi piped and and told them that it was around time for dinner. Everyone nodded in agreement until she mentioned the fact that Ouma had not planned for any hotel or food while they were out here.

“Seriously?” Miu cried. “You idiot! That’s step one when you take a trip, book a hotel room! Where are we even going to sleep tonight?”

“I was going to suggest a cheap motel or the car itself, but a pig like you should just sleep on the dirty ground.”

Miu let out a gasp and went silent after that. Amami felt a headache coming.

“So how much money do we all have in total then?” Kiyo asked.

“I have 10 bucks!” Ouma cried.

After taking out her wallet, Tsumugi cried. “I have 30 dollars.”

“I’ve got 2 dollars saved in my bra always. In case of emergency!” Miu laughed.

Kiyo glanced at her. “In what emergency would a mere two dollars be useful?” He shook his head. “Anyway, I have 20 on me right now. What about you Amami?”

“Ah.” Amami paused for a brief moment before realizing. “I don’t have any. I had to pay for a day out with two of my sisters so I used most of it up. And then… I paid for the toilet paper and paint we used to vandalize Saihara’s car.”

“Oh right… whoopies?” Ouma stuck his tongue out. Tsumugi looked like she wanted to strangle him.

After giving Ouma the evil eye, Tsumugi looked back at Amami. “You should really start saving some more for yourself you know.”

“Yeah, I get told that a lot.”

“So in total we have, 62 dollars?” Kiyo concluded.

Miu cried. “If only Amami had seven bucks, then it would have been sixty-”

Ouma pushed her head away. “That’s not enough for anything really.”

“Shit.” Kiyo paled. “We need money for gas too.”

“Don’t forget we also need money for all things fun! Like parks, rides, pranks, a Club Penguin membership-” Ouma was cut off by Miu before he can continue.

“Actually,” she began, “If we can get to a bank I could draw some money out for you guys.”

Tsumugi looked at her as if she was her savior. “Really? You would do that for us???”

Miu shrugged. “Yeah, I mean money has never been a big issue for me, my dad is kinda loaded so…”

“Your dad or your ‘Dad™’?” Ouma asked, making air quotations for the second “dad”.

“Wow ok, I know I’m amazing and all, but I don’t have a sugar daddy for god’s sake.”

“Yeah.” Ouma laughed. “No sugar daddy would want a trash bitch like you!”

Before Miu could start whining again, Kiyo asked them if they had seen a bank anywhere near the gas station.

Amami answered. “I don't think so. There is one at Jewel Osco.”

“Ok great. Where is it?”

“Oh it’s not here.” Amami laughed. “There’s just always a ATM near a Jewel Osco.”

Kiyo grumbled. Ouma laughed. “That’s not true at all. It’s near Target right?”

“No I’m pretty sure Jewel has a ATM inside.”

Tsumugi looked up from her phone. “I found it, there’s a Jewel at the next town.” She looked up at Ouma. “Where is the next stop on Saihara’s visit?”

He paused to think before replying. “He was going to see some dumb museum. I decided not to follow him there because we have Kiyo with us.”

Kiyo frowned. “I like museums.”

“Exactly. That’s why we can’t have you going to one.” Ouma replied to a still confused looking Kiyo. “So I just jumped to the next stop on their destination which is the Hampton Inn.”

Ouma leaned over to check Tsumugi’s phone. “Yup! It’s the same town. Some crazy plot coincidence am I right?”

“Hampton Inn?” Amami thought out loud. “That’s way more money than we have.”

Tsumugi turned her phone around for the rest to see. “Actually most of the hotels around here are more than 50 dollars for a single bed room. We have five people, so there’s no way we can afford such luxuries.”

Miu sighed. “Guys I told you that I can take some cash from my pop’s bank-”

“No.” Amami told her. “We don’t want to trouble your dad too much with our own mistakes.” He looks pointedly at Ouma.

Amami respects his idea, he probably came underprepared on purpose because it would be fun, but it’s hard to enjoy a vacation like this.

Ouma smacks his lips. “Ok fine. I know a guy who lives in the same town that Saihara’s team is staying at. We can just crash there.”

Tsumugi looked at him strangely. “You ‘know a guy’?”

“Yeah. I know lots of guys around our road trip area. We could just sleep with different guys each night.”

There was a strange silence in the car. Miu couldn’t hold it anymore and started laughing really loudly. Tsumugi and Kiyo also smiled a bit.

“What’s so funny?”

Amami looks at Ouma with a serious expression. “Think about what you said for a moment.”

Ouma thought about it until it hit him. “No! Not like that!! Why do all of you have your minds stuck in the gutter!! How dare you ruin the pure and innocent!!”

“I don’t see anyone like that here.” Kiyo commented.

“Jeez, that was scary.” Ouma laughed, Amami noticed that it seemed a little panicked.

Tsumugi looked back to the group. “OK but Ouma, how do you know that these people would just let you stay? Also isn’t that not very safe?? To just room with random people???”

“Hey! They aren’t ‘random people’!” Ouma huffed. “I know most of them personally and I’ve kept up connections. I should be able to convince them to have us over.”

Kiyo furrowed his brows. “How old are these ‘friends’ of yours even?”

Ouma laughed. “Not too much older than us. They’re all above the drinking age, that’s for sure.”

“Are you sure they won’t kill us or rob us in our sleep?” Tsumugi asked. “I’m not sure if I can be comfortable sleeping with some strangers you know but it’s really our best decision for shelter.”

“Don’t worry! I know them all very well, so if anything bad happens I’ll make sure you guys are safe.”

Tsumugi nodded and agreed, still a little concerned about the situation. Amami didn’t worry, strange enough, he felt like he could trust Ouma this time.

Ouma gleamed. “Alright! Ok Kiyo, I’ll tell you the address of their apartment and we can crash there for the night!” He laughed and told Kiyo the address as Kiyo grumbled and punched the street into Susan the GPS.

After Kiyo was finished, Ouma continued. “Right! Guys tomorrow we’ll have to get up around 6 in the morning if we want to catch Saihara’s group. They’re going to a circus tomorrow and of course, “ he smirked, “we’re going too!”

Miu groaned. “A circus? Like one of those cheap tent things that run from town to town?”

“Yup!”

“Are there…” Tsumugi took a deep breath. “Clowns?”

“Yup!!”

She grumbled. “I knew I shouldn’t have come on this trip.”

Ouma just laughed. Miu gave her a knowing pat on the back as Kiyo started up the car.

Thus the gang hit the road once more.

-

When Miu’s stomach growled, she had realized that they have been driving for forever.

They got back onto the highway at around 1:00? They didn’t eat lunch because Tsumugi insisted on not donating a penny to that farm place. Something about that expensive cheese platter being more than it’s worth and poor coffee judgement.

And now it was almost 4:00. And Miu was hungry.

She tried asking Ouma if he had any more snacks but Ouma said that he had ate them all before they got to the farm stop.

Ouma had been quietly reading a book for the last couple of hours. He had already finished the one he started at the beginning of the trip. Amami fell asleep listening to Taylor Swift, in which Ouma had deeply mocked him about, and Tsumugi was still watching whatever weeb shit she had on her iPad.

Kiyo of course was busy paying attention to the road, soft jazz music poured out from the car’s radio.

So Miu… Miu was bored.

She fell asleep when they first got in the car, but now that she was wide awake and everyone else was occupied, she was at a complete loss as to what she could do.

Miu turned around and poked Ouma. Ouma hissed back at her and went back to reading. She stuck her tongue out and made a fart noise.

She sighed. She leaned forward to poke Kiyo instead. He answered.

“What do you want?”

“Ah well.” Miu stumbled, she wasn’t expecting a response. “I was wondering if we were going to go anywhere to eat. I mean we skipped lunch, but I would like to at least eat some dinner.”

At the sound of food Ouma piped up. “Oh! There’s a good pizza place in the town we’re headed. We can also get some instant noodles from Jewel when we get there as well!”

Miu nodded. And she sunk back to her seat.

Ah. Back to Square One. Being bored.

What do people even do in the car? Miu had no idea, most of her vacation trips were focused more on when she got to the place, not the trip there.

Suddenly, Miu realized. The perfect thing to do.

And it was such an “Ouma’ idea too.

She looked over at where Kiyo and Tsumugi sat, Kiyo was listening to the music and his eyes were lost on the road. Tsumugi could barely think about her surroundings, her eyes were glued to the show on her iPad.

Perfect.

Looking around, Miu reached through her bag until she found her small umbrella. She pulled out the long stick part so she had a working rod.

Ouma eyed her suspiciously but didn’t say anything.

Then Miu took the rod and carefully snuck it between Tsumugi and Kiyo’s chairs without them noticing. Then she hit a button.

For the seat warmer.

After completing the task she shrunk her umbrella arm back down and put it back in her purse. Behind her she could hear Ouma’s stifled laughs.

Miu turns around to Ouma to give him a wink. Ouma makes a perfect sign with his hand.

After that, Miu felt completely content. She rummaged through her purse and pulled out her phone to pass time.

Soon they’ll find out.

Time passed, and Miu almost forgot about the little prank she pulled.

It had been maybe 30 minutes or so, until Kiyo finally said something.

“Why is it so hot in here?”

Tsumugi finally noticed the strange warmness of the chair as well. She took out her headphones. “Does anyone else feel really warm?”

Amami was still sound asleep. Ouma replied. “Not really. Maybe it’s just a front seat thing.”

“That’s strange” Kiyo commented. He looked at Tsumugi. “Does your chair feel strangely warm too?”

“Yeah.” She glanced around. “Should we open the windows or something?”

Miu cried. “No don’t do that! It’s too warm outside as well!”

“Yeah! Think about the people sitting in the back before you pull such atrocities!!” Ouma joined her.

Kiyo made a face before checking the air temperature of the car. “It seem normal. Then why are the seats so-”

It wasn’t long until he noticed. And when he did, he slammed on the breaks and his face hit the wheel.

Luckily it was only them on the highway and no one else. Kiyo let out a small scream.

“What is it-” Tsumugi asked before she saw the seat warmers turned on. “Oh.”

“I guess I probably accidentally hit it or something. Sorry about that Tsumugi.” Kiyo told her as he pressed the seat warming buttons to turn them off. Then he started driving again.

“It’s no problem. At least the truth came out.”

Their conversation was about to end when Miu and Ouma broke into laughter.

Ouma cried a little. “Why are your reactions so normal?!”

Miu just kept laughing.

Tsumugi looked back concerned. “Why are you guys laughing so much?”

“Because- I- I turned the seat warmer on, and you guys didn't notice!!” Miu coughed out.

Kiyo grumbled and Tsumugi rolled her eyes. Miu just kept smiling.

“Why on earth would you-” Kiyo tried to ask, but Miu yelled again.

“Because I’m aMAZING! That’s why!!” She screeched. It was a little weird how Miu could be so excited for some measly prank, but she felt like she was on top of the world.

Suddenly Ouma’s voice cried from the back of the car. “KIYO WHEN WILL WE GET THERE?!”

Miu could imagine veins popping up on Kiyo’s forehead. “The GPS says-”

“Susan says.”

Kiyo died a little on the inside. “The GPS! Says that we have less than an hour left until we get to your friend’s apartment.”

Ouma smiled back. “Great!” Then he went back to reading his book.

Miu checked the time. Less than an hour she could handle.

I mean, she’s already handled three hours. And if she did it before she can do it again...

Yeah, she can do it again.

-

When they finally arrive at this “friend’s” apartment, Kiyo wanted to collapse and die.

He had been driving for the past 3 or 4 hours and he needed a break. His mind was about to implode.

That’s why when they got to the stranger’s apartment and they opened the door, Kiyo thought that it might be nice to collapse on the floor right then and there.

Thankfully the stranger caught him.

The stranger caught him.

The stranger… caught…. him…?

The stranger caught him?!

Kiyo jumped out of the weird unintentional hug, mumbling a sorry. He heard Ouma laugh in the background.

When Kiyo looked back at the guy he accidentally embraced he found a mass of muscle instead. When he looked up, noting that he actually had to look up, he saw a mass of hair covering a friendly face.

Confused, Kiyo looked back at Ouma, asking for an introduction. Ouma nodded and stepped forward.

“So, my fellow pals, there here is my once childhood friend- Gonta Gokuhara!” He announced loudly.

Amami, Tsumugi and Miu waved a hello. Kiyo apologized again for his almost death like trance.

Gonta looked at the group and smiled a smile so bright that Kiyo wanted to pull his mask over his eyes as well. “Hello Ouma’s friends! Gonta is Gonta!”

“You sure are…” Tsumugi mumbled.

Ouma grinned. “So since Gonta is literally the nicest person on this trash ball you guys call a planet, he’s going to let us stay at his apartment for the night!”

“Gonta said it’s no problem!”

“Exactly! What he said.” Ouma looked back at Gonta. “So where do we go?”

“Oh! Here, Gonta has an extra room for guests, he hopes it’s big enough. Gonta doesn’t have that many beds so he lay out some blankets on chairs for everyone!!”

“Eh. I’ll take it.” Miu said. She walked into the small apartment and headed into the room that Gonta gestured towards.

The rest of the group filed in. Kiyo took a look around. It was a rather simple apartment with a sofa, TV, a small kitchen, and anything else needed for simple living.

It was just that… the room was covered with bugs.

The decor, the paintings that hung on the walls, even on the coffee table sat a plastic bug box that definitely contained… bugs.

Kiyo wasn’t very fond of bugs, but he could tolerate them. He glanced back at Tsumugi who looked like she was having the worst time of her life.

Look, Kiyo doesn’t know Tsumugi super well, but he knows that she’s the type of person who freezes up when she sees a spider and needs someone else around to get rid of it.

That’s why Kiyo wasn’t surprised when Tsumugi looked like she could stab Ouma when she asked him why his “friend” was such a bug freak.

Ouma could only shake his head. “It’s nature.”

“Was that… a pun?”

Gonta laughed. “Gonta so happy that Ouma’s friends are here! We could have lots of fun and play lots of games.”

“Yeah! I can’t wait!” Ouma laughed back.

The rest of the group also followed into the guest room. They set down their belongings next each chair to claim it as theirs. There, Kiyo saw that Miu had already slumped down on one of the chairs.

When Kiyo saw her, the only thing he could think of was how much he also wanted to be in that position.

So Kiyo also took a chair and closed his eyes.

Then he started to dream.

About the past, about the future, about the road trip. He thought about Ouma and how strange he was and how terrible he was at common courtesy.

He thought about Amami and how he was literally acting like Ouma’s mom, following him around and basically wiping his ass for all the jokes that Ouma pulls.

He thought about Tsumugi who seemed like a blessing in this sort of situation, being the only other sane person here.

He thought about Miu who had been relatively quiet at the beginning of the trip and then finally woke up and became the hyper emotional girl that he knew when he met her.

And as he thought about them, he found himself liking them more and more.

It was strange, all he could pick out were nitpicky ticks that bothered him. Like how Tsumugi’s volume on her headphones was always too loud and Kiyo could hear the anime leak out. Or how Amami could sometimes never shut up about his family. Or how Miu needed to flaunt her ego every minute or so. Or how Ouma… or how Ouma existed.

And he thought about them, he thought and thought and eventually he fell asleep still nitpicking pesky details about his friends.

-

When Ouma finished talking with Gonta, he saw his driver asleep in a chair.

Kiyo was asleep. How could he! How could Kiyo fall asleep!! They still had to go to Jewel Osco to pull some money out of Miu’s dad’s bank account and then buy some food so that the five of them don’t perish.

Ouma let out a frustrated sigh under his breath. He turned to Gonta. “Hey Gonta.”

“What is it Ouma?”

“Do you know how to drive?”

“Why yes!”

Perfect. Ouma let out a sigh of relief. “Hey Gonta, you’re my bestest friend in the whole wide world right?”

“Yeah! Ouma is Gonta’s bestest friend too.”

“Exactly. And do you what bestest friends do for each other? They help them out!”

“Yes!” Gonta replied immediately. “Gonta will help out Ouma. For that is the gentlemanly thing to do!”

“That’s right!” Ouma smiled back. “So could you send me, Tsumugi, Amami, and Miu to the nearby Jewel? We need to visit the ATM there and then pick up some food for dinner.”

“Of course Gonta can do that!”

Ouma laughed. “Thanks friend. I’ll go call them over now and then we’ll drive to Jewel ok?”

“Got it! Gonta will get ready to go!”

Ouma walked into the guest room. Tsumugi was still a little struck by the number of bug decor in the room, and Kiyo was still asleep. Amami was standing near Tsumugi and Miu was slumped in a chair, about to fall asleep.

With some quick thinking, Ouma launched over and placed his cold hands on Miu’s cheeks and then squished them together.

“Hey I can’t have you falling asleep as well. We still need to get that money from your pop’s bank.”

Miu groaned. “Can’t we do that tomorrow??”

“We can’t do that tomorrow!” Ouma huffed. “We’re heading out at 6 to see the circus, remember!”

Miu let out a ragged moan and waited three seconds before crawling out of the chair.

Ouma nodded and led the three of them out the door and to Kiyo’s car.

Gonta was already waiting outside. He had brought a small bag with him. When they stepped outside, he was excited to go.

What a dad friend.

So all of them piled into Kiyo’s car. Ouma handed Gonta the keys, and they started driving.

It didn’t take long to get to Jewel. Thankfully the store was still open.

They headed over to the ATM after they walked through and got whatever food they could easily eat for dinner. Miu got to the machine, punched in a couple numbers and then turned to the rest of the group.

“How much?”

Amami put his hands up. “Woah, that’s a rather confident thing to say.”

Miu rolled his eyes and looked at Tsumugi. “How much do you think we need?”

“Well…” Tsumugi thought for a bit. “Since we’re rooming with Ouma’s friends every night, we shouldn’t need any hotel fees.”

“Right.” Miu agreed. “And if we do happen to find ourselves in need of such fees, we can simply find another bank.”

Tsumugi nodded. “So then all we need are costs for food and activities.”

“We have 5 people.” Ouma said. “If we keep the luxuries to a minimum, maybe a couple hundred or so?”

“Sounds good.” Miu said as she went to withdraw the money.

Now waiting for Miu to get back, and awkward tension fell onto the group.

Oh no. Ouma sweats a little. He’s going to-

“So why did you all come here?” Gonta suddenly asked. Ouma wanted to cry.

It’s not that Ouma disliked Gonta. He just found him to be a little one dimensional and easy to figure out. And that got boring at times.

Ouma found Gonta boring at times, yet he couldn’t seem to push him completely away.

Gonta had the trust of a little kid. He would be kidnapped so easily if Ouma didn’t watch his ass.

Gonta was also the worst at keeping secrets.

One time, Ouma had told Gonta that he liked this other boy in their class. He told Gonta that he absolutely couldn’t tell anyone.

But then the next day, Gonta came to Ouma in tears saying that he accidentally told the other boy about the secret Ouma told him not to tell.

So when Gonta began conversation with the others, Ouma braced himself.

Tsumugi glanced back at Gonta. “Well we’re here on a road trip actually. The whole set up got messed up and it’s a long story.” She said glaring at Ouma. “But luckily Ouma has such a generous friend like you who let us, a bunch of strangers, into your house for a night!”

“Again. Thanks for your help.” Amami added.

Gonta turned a little red. “Oh, it’s no problem. Gonta only want to help out Ouma any way he can.”

Ouma felt another part of him rot away.

Amami nodded. “Hey Gonta, you’re the same age as us right?”

“Right!”

“Are you in college as well?”

“Oh yes! Gonta is studying etymology, he finds it very fun since Gonta liked bugs since Gonta was a kid.” He replied. “Right now Gonta moved out of dorms and stays near campus in Gonta’s apartment!”

“Chill.” Amami seemed satisfied knowing that Gonta was the same as the rest of them. Tsumugi then took a turn to ask a question.

“Hey Gonta, how did you meet Ouma?”

Fuck.

“Oh hey look, Miu’s back!” Ouma quickly noticed, pointing towards the blond running back with a envelop in her hand.

Tsumugi furrowed her eyebrows and Amami gave a small smile. Ouma noticed that his action was pretty awkward. Darn it.

Gonta didn’t seem to see it though. He turned to Miu as well. “Welcome back!”

“I’m back bitches!” Miu shouts. “I even got the guy to give me the money in 20s and 50s instead of 100 dollar bills. Aren’t I just the greatest?!”

“How’d you swing that?” Amami asked.

Miu winked back. “Just a woman’s charm.”

Ouma snatched the money away from Miu. “Lets ignore that hoe and head back guys!” He stated clearly as he started walking towards the door. Suddenly Ouma was really tired and really wanted to go to bed.

The drive back to Gonta’s apartment was rather quiet. Everyone was tired too.

Ouma sat in the back, as always, and stared at the tired people around him.

His friends.

Friends? Can he call it that?

Maybe. What is a friend? How much trust should a person put in a friend?

The more he thought about it, the scarier it got.

Earlier before, he had made that comment about sleeping with different guys each night. It was a genuine accident, he didn’t even check himself before he spoke.

But he always double checked what he was going to say before saying it. The old Ouma would never make such a strange mistake.

What happened to him? Was it safe to let himself go like that?

Maybe it will be. Maybe this time he could place some of his trust in other people.

-

Tsumugi couldn’t believe how weak everyone else was. It was only around 9:00 and these kids were already tired.

Tsumugi can’t remember the number of times that she has stayed up into the wee hours of the night to finish anime marathons. Sleeping at 9 was like a joke.

When they got back to Gonta’s apartment. Ouma and Miu were practically falling over themselves to lay down on Gonta’s couch. The food that they bought, which was just some instant noodles, went untouched and it landed halfway on the coffee table.

Gonta helped Tsumugi carry some of the other things they bought, like snacks and bottles of water for the rest of the trip.

Seeing how Ouma and Miu didn’t want to move anymore, they certainly didn’t want to eat anymore. Amami helped Tsumugi push them onto the chairs that Gonta had set up for them.

Once everything was situated. Tsumugi and Amami decided to have dinner. Gonta joined them.

They boiled some water in a kettle that Gonta had owned, and then Gonta went to the kitchen to cook up something extra, “just for Ouma’s special guests”, he had said.

Ah. Now that Ouma was in the other room, probably fast asleep, Tsumugi could ask.

“Hey Gonta, how did you and Ouma meet again?”

“Oh right! Gonta forgot to tell you that!” He laughed. “Gonta met Ouma when he was very small, he found him on the playground swings.”

“You found him?” Amami asked. “Like… found?”

“Yeah! Found. Ouma was trying to swing with his stomach on the seat! Such a silly thing to do!”

“Ah of course.” Amami thought about it. It seemed like he was working around something.

Tsumugi continued to question Gonta. “So what happened?”

“So Gonta decided to pick him up!” Gonta laughed. “Ouma screamed a lot.”

“I would too.” Tsumugi commented.

“Oh oops!” Gonta realized. “Ouma told Gonta not to tell this story. Oh no! Gonta is so sorry!!”

Amami blinked twice before talking. “Oh, it’s ok Gonta. I’m sure Ouma will understand.”

“I hope so.” Gonta said. “Gonta is so glad that Ouma has other friends now. Because before now Ouma didn’t have many friends, just like Gonta. He was always so quiet. But now Ouma has 4 other friends! Gonta is so happy to see them!!”

Amami nodded and continued to stare at his sitting noodles. Tsumugi didn’t really know what to say after that.

I mean, all of them were pretty anti-social kids when you look at it. A long lima bean, a purple leech, a pink baboon, an avocado, and a weeb.

Not really the type of people to be popular.

So when Gonta said that Ouma didn’t have any friends when he was younger, she wasn’t all that surprised.

But what really concerned her was the “4 other friends” part.

Friends? They were all friends sure, but probably not to the strength that Gonta had described.

Did Ouma think that they were friends? Tsumugi scrunched her eyebrows.

Did she think that they were all that good of friends?

It’s only been a day but…

Maybe now they have already become good friends without even realizing it.

Tsumugi opened up her instant noodle package and started eating.

“Thanks for telling us Gonta.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some Extra Ramblings:
> 
> \- woah a lot more character stuff than I anticipated  
> \- I've never seen anyone TP a card before actually  
> \- imagine the cutie mark is the most Cutiest Mark you could ever imagine  
> \- I had that conversation about belly buttons  
> \- Jewel Osco has ATMs right?  
> \- Kiyo can't go to museums because they would never leave  
> \- Someone has pulled that seat warmer joke on me once  
> \- Gonta is the reason I wake up everyday  
> \- Also yeah, I like to think that they were childhood friends or something. eh
> 
> I can't believe I wrote another chapter

**Author's Note:**

> I hope I get around to pushing out another chapter


End file.
